Jacks lose two on the road

The South Dakota State wrestling team lost a pair of duals this weekend versus North Carolina and at Nebraska. The team also had nine wrestlers compete at the Cobber Open.

The Jacks opened the day versus North Carolina, but was unable to overcome an early deficit. Cody Pack and J.J. Everard scored decisions for SDSU at 157 and 285, respectively, but it was not enough as the Tar Heels pulled away for a 36-6 win.

In its second dual, SDSU faced Nebraska, ranked No. 14 by InterMat and weekend host. The Jacks started fast with a major decision by Aaron Pickrel at 125 and scored a big decision from Dustin Walraven, who beat No. 13 Jake Sueflohn by 3-2 decision at 149, but once again it came up short as the Cornhuskers won 32-7.

"We did not wrestle well and our effort was not there versus North Carolina," head coach Chris Bono said. "We came back in the second dual and the effort and attitude we are looking for was there, fueled by a great effort from Dustin Walraven. The team as a whole wrestled a lot better versus Nebraska and I was more pleased with the effort. We have a long way to go and we will get back to work tomorrow."

North Carolina 36 - SDSU 6

The Jacks and Tar Heels opened the dual at 125 pounds. Aaron Pickrel squared off versus Nathan Kraisser, ranked No. 16 (InterMat). Pickrel
fell behind 5-0 in the first period and was unable to recover, dropping a 7-1
decision.

At 133, Brance Simms faced Joey Ward. Simms trailed 2-0
after the first, which proved to be enough. The two wrestled a scoreless second
and Simms was only able to score one point in the third, losing by a 2-1
decision.

In the 149-pound match, Dustin Walraven dropped another
close decision for the Jacks. Christian Barber came out on top 7-3.

Cody Pack lined up at 157 versus Christopher Mears. Pack
started strong, leading 4-0 after two periods. The third period was much higher
scoring, but Pack held on for a 12-5 decision to put the Jacks on the board.

In the final match of the dual, J.J. Everard took on Jake
Barnhart. Everard led 2-1 after the first period, but Barnhart wrestled it to
an even 2-2 after two. In the final period, Everard wrestled hard and came out
on top with a 7-3 decision.

In the second dual of the day, SDSU faced No. 14 and weekend host Nebraska. Aaron Pickrel once again opened the dual, but found more success versus Eric Coufal. Pickrel took advantage of an early lead and won by 12-4 major decision.

Brance Simms wrestled Shawn Nagel at 133, but did not find similar success. Nagel led 2-1 entering the third period, but strung together an escape and takedown to put the match out of reach and win by 8-2 decision.

At 141, Ben Gillette faced Skylar Galloway and kept it close through two periods, but Galloway scored a reversal and two takedowns in the third for a 14-4 major decision.

In SDSU's most notable win of the day, Dustin Walraven defeated No. 13 Jake Sueflohn at 149 by 3-2 decision. Walraven scored an escape in the second period and, after allowing an escape and stalling point in the third, scored a takedown to win the match.

Nebraska went on a six-match win streak to close out the Jacks, however.

In the 157-pound match, Cody Pack lost to No. 5 James Green by 17-6 major decision. At 165, Joe Brewster wrestled Austin Wilson tough, but dropped a 4-1 decision.

The two other ranked Huskers, No. 7 Robert Kokesh and No. 6 Josh Ihnen, won at 174 and 184. Kokesh defeated John Nething II by 17-1 tech fall and Ihnen pinned Hunter Weddington.

At 197, Brandon Ballard dropped a 13-4 major decision to Caleb Kolb and J.J. Everard came up short in the 285 match to Donny Longendyke, 6-4.

The South Dakota State wrestling team sent nine wrestlers to
the Cobber Open this weekend, as well. The open was divided into two divisions,
Maroon and Gold, with the former set aside for freshmen and the latter set
aside for upperclassmen.

Ben Schwery led the way with a second-place finish in the
Maroon Division at 165 pounds. Schwery defeated Riley Nagel (Mary) by 15-0 tech
fall in the opening round and scored decisions versus TJ Poole (Dickinson
State) and Cody Tibbetts (St. Cloud State). In the final, Schwery dropped the
narrowest of decisions, 3-2, to finish second.

The Jacks also had a pair of fourth-place finishers in Tyler White (Maroon Division, 174) and Jacob Haydel (Maroon Division, 285).

White opened with a 3-2 decision versus Trey Griffin (St.
Cloud State) and a pin in 4:38 versus Tyrell Martin (Ridgewater College). White
dropped two close decisions in the semifinals and the third-place match to
finish fourth.

Haydel opened with a pin in 1:52 versus Cole Monroe (Mary).
After suffering a reversal in fortunes in the semifinals, Haydel dropped a 5-3
decision in the third-place match to finish fourth.

Both Tyler Johnson (141) and Will James (141) won
first-round matches in the Gold Division, but were unable to advance further.